Around the world, a tiny but significant ritual is currently taking place on phones and laptops. Apps that appear almost embarrassingly simple are being opened by users; there is no “suggested for you” feature, no infinite scroll, and no notification badges shaped like tiny fires. Just a simple list of articles from websites that the user selected, arranged from newest to oldest. Nothing dramatic. No algorithm. Just information, delivered like a letter used to. This is RSS, which is quietly making one of the most intriguing comebacks in recent tech history after being written off for years as a relic.
Since many people have hazy memories of RSS without fully understanding why, it’s important to be honest about what it really is. In essence, Really Simple Syndication is an open web layer with a subscription layer. The RSS feed is updated whenever a website publishes something new, such as a blog post, news article, or press release. Every update from every website you follow is gathered by a reader app and shown in one location. No intermediary. Not a mystery. There is no San Francisco company that uses seventeen behavioral cues that you never agreed to share to determine what you should likely see today.
| Information | Details |
|---|---|
| Technology Name | Really Simple Syndication (RSS) |
| First Introduced | 1999 — developed alongside the early open web |
| Original Purpose | Syndicating website updates into a single, user-controlled feed |
| Core Function | Aggregates content from multiple websites without algorithmic filtering |
| Primary Formats | RSS 2.0, Atom |
| Famous Early Reader | Google Reader (launched 2005, discontinued 2013) |
| Current Popular Clients | Feeder, Feedly, Inoreader, NetNewsWire, NewsBlur |
| Why It Declined | Rise of Facebook, Twitter, and algorithm-driven social platforms |
| Why It’s Returning | AI content saturation, algorithm fatigue, distrust of social platforms |
| Who Uses It Today | Journalists, researchers, developers, knowledge workers, privacy advocates |
| Reference | Inoreader Blog on RSS Revival |
| Key Advantage | Zero algorithmic manipulation — user decides everything |
| Open Source Option | Feeder (available on GitHub, fully transparent) |
The technology is outdated. It first appeared in 1999, flourished during the early 2000s blogging era, and reached a sort of cultural peak with Google Reader. However, Google killed it in 2013, a decision that continues to cause quiet resentment among some online communities. Social media then took over, making the entire concept seem pointless. Facebook would send you content directly, so why pull your own feed? It turns out that the solution was always right in front of us. Because you were never really benefiting from Facebook.
The majority of people seem to have experienced enough algorithmic manipulation to be viscerally aware of the costs. The feeds became odd. Because the engagement metrics rewarded emotional, divisive content, it spread more quickly than calm, accurate content. The thick and inevitable layer of advertising then appeared. The bots came next. Then, in the past two years, generative AI has produced content at a scale that no human editorial team could ever match, which has actually accelerated the decay. Articles published by platforms that are unable or unwilling to discern them from authentic human thought are written by no one and shared by no real people. When you spend enough time scrolling through practically any major platform these days, you start to feel as though the voices aren’t really voices anymore.
It’s difficult to ignore how that experience differs from launching a carefully chosen RSS reader. In fact, it sounds like it was written by someone. Instead of making an educated guess as to what will keep you interested for three more seconds, the selection represents your true interests. That may sound modest. It isn’t. It feels almost radical to be in charge of your own information diet after years of algorithmic curation.
Compared to the last time RSS was widely used, the tools available today are significantly better. Because Feeder is free and open source, it has gained popularity among users who want something transparent. Unlike Facebook’s news feed, you can examine the code yourself. In 2013, Feedly emerged as the go-to destination for Google Reader refugees, and it has expanded significantly since then. Inoreader is in the middle; it’s easy enough for someone who just wants to follow six or seven favorite blogs without the noise, but it’s professional enough for journalists keeping an eye on dozens of beats. These apps aren’t attempting to take the place of the next social network. They are currently compelling in part because of their restraint.
The RSS comeback might reveal more about the state of trust in the internet today. Because the aggregating platforms have lost their credibility, people are turning back to direct sources, which are the actual websites of newspapers, researchers, and independent writers. An increasing number of people have a gut feeling that if you want to know what a journalist actually wrote, you should go to a website that displays it exactly, unfiltered and unsorted by a system that optimizes for God knows what. That’s what RSS does. It did so every time.
It’s really unclear if this stays a quiet niche or develops into something more widespread. The majority of RSS users are footnote readers, which isn’t exactly a mass-market demographic. However, algorithm fatigue is no longer limited to tech enthusiasts. It has reached people who just want the internet to feel less like a carnival meant to draw attention, people who are unable to identify the protocol underlying their feed reader. RSS isn’t flashy. It doesn’t provide any trending sounds, viral moments, or dopamine loops created by a product team. Instead, it provides something that is surprisingly difficult to locate: a feed that is truly yours.
